engleski

Job Characteristics and Work-Family Conflict as Predictors of Depressiveness and Anxiety among Fathers

For employees, especially those who are parents, it is sometimes challenging to balance responsibilities for different roles. Thus, a conflict between work and family role is possible, which often leads to a decrease in physical and psychological well-being. Given that some job characteristics are related to the work- family conflict, which is consequently associated with depression and anxiety, the aim of this research was to determine the predictive value of specific job characteristics (shifts, flexible working hours, overtime, and the number of working hours) and work-family conflict for depressiveness and anxiety among working fathers. Fathers of infants under one year of age (N=155) completed an online general data questionnaire, which also examined job characteristics ; Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) ; anxiety subscale from the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) ; and Multidimensional Measure of Work-Family Conflict (MMW-FC), examining work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict, each in three aspects: time-based, strain-based, and behaviour-based. The results have shown that fathers who have less flexibility, who work overtime, and who have a higher number of hours per week have higher levels of work-family conflict. Further, fathers experiencing higher work-family conflict have higher levels of depressiveness and anxiety. The hierarchical regression analyses have shown that, after controlling job characteristics, the greater strain-based work-to-family conflict predicts higher levels of depressiveness, while greater strain-based family-to-work conflict predicts higher levels of anxiety. Given the importance of these factors, it is necessary to improve job characteristics by organising flexible working hours and teaching stress management to facilitate the reconciliation of family and work responsibilities and prevent difficulties among working fathers.

Job Characteristics, Conflict between Work and Family Role, Depression, Anxiety

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